Tech Shares Likely To Drag KOSPI Lower

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 50 points or 2 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,575-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing tariff concerns and their effect on the world economy. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished barely lower on Thursday as losses from the technology stocks were offset by gains from the industrials and financial shares.

For the day, the index eased 1.18 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 2,573.64 after trading between 2,561.02 and 2,600.07. Volume was 422 million shares worth 12.95 trillion won. There were 539 decliners and 331 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 1.55 percent, while KB Financial spiked 2.21 percent, Hana Financial collected 1.82 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.36 percent, Samsung SDI plunged 4.23 percent, LG Electronics tanked 2.07 percent, SK Hynix added 0.40 percent, Naver advanced 0.93 percent, LG Chem stumbled 3.39 percent, Lotte Chemical gained 0.67 percent, SK Innovation rose 0.43 percent, POSCO Holdings lost 0.48 percent, SK Telecom perked 0.18 percent, KEPCO improved 0.45 percent, Hyundai Mobis soared 3.23 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.41 percent and Kia Motors climbed 1.31 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened in the red and continued to track lower throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 537.36 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 40,813.57, while the NASDAQ dropped 345.44 points or 1.96 percent to close at 17.303.01 and the S&P 500 sank 77.78 points or 1.39 percent to end at 5,521.52.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about President Donald Trump's trade policies after he suggested the U.S. would respond to the European Union's countermeasures with even more tariffs.

In economic news, the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in February. Also, the Labor Department unexpectedly saw a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil prices fell on Thursday amid prospects of excess supply in the market, and on concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $1.13 or 1.7 percent at $66.55 a barrel.